by Leslie North
“Just bring her too,” Aman shouted as he realised they were running out of time. A few men were rushing over. Amber tried to grab Akeem's leg but he kicked her in the face. He ran to the car with Mona. He shoved her in and shut the door.
“What are you doing?” a few witnesses shouted. Some were shouting for the police. A man went to Amber to check if she was okay. Her nose was bleeding. She was screaming hysterically. Abia drove off with a screech of tires.
Chapter 5
Basil looked up as a bloody Amber barged into his office and fell to her knees. He quickly stood up from his desk and ran to her. Crouching in front of her, he gently gripped her shoulders. Her face was swollen and there was dried blood on her nose. Her eyes were filled with tears.
“What happened to you?” Basil asked her.
“I'm sorry, your highness.” Amber burst into tears.
“Calm down and tell me what happened,” Basil asked gently. Amber had come to his office in this state. She was never alone. She was always with Saja and Mona. The three of them were inseparable.
“Saja was taken away,” Amber was shaking. She was scared of the Prince’s reaction. She was responsible for Saja but had failed to protect her. Amber looked at the floor.
“What do you mean, taken away? By whom?”
“El-Tamar's family took her and Mona,” Amber replied, her voice was shaking. She could not bear to look at the Prince.
“And they did this to you?” Basil was letting it all sink in. It was not making sense to him. Only a few hours ago, Saja was there in his office, in his arms. Now she was abducted by El-Tamar's family. Amber nodded quietly. Tears continued to flow down her face. “It's not your fault,” Basil said to her and rubbed her shoulders. Amber told him the whole story. With each word, Basil grew more and more angry. It became more and more real.
He stood up and walked out of the office. “Get her a doctor and anything else she needs,” he said to his secretary. “And summon Badir here, immediately,” he demanded as he walked out.
Badir found the Prince pacing outside. Before he could speak, the Prince cried out, “Saja has been abducted!”
“What?” Badir's eyes widened. He knew he should have forced her to take a security detail.
“El-Tamar!” Basil barked his name out. Badir was now even more surprised. He didn’t expect El-Tamar to go that far. His actions were stupid and irresponsible. If anything, he should have been trying to get on Basil's good side not making things worse. This was the biggest mistake he could have ever made.
“How did you find out?
“Amber,” Basil's hands were shaking in anger.
“I'm on it,” Badir bowed his head and left. Basil was not much of a talker. He was not going to spill his heart out and cry on Badir's shoulder. The best thing Badir could do was help him find her.
Badir dismissed himself because he knew what he had to do. He returned to his office and summoned Basil's entire security team to the palace. They were informed that it was a national emergency. Saja was not only the princess of Quabeca; she was also the princess of Al-Basrat.
He went to speak with Amber whilst he waited for the team to arrive. The doctor had just left and she was still shaken up. He sat down in front of her and asked if she was okay. Amber nodded. He then asked her to tell him everything that had happened.
As Amber recounted the events, Badir sighed. The events that had taken place were dark. It angered him to know that El-Tamar's sons had treated Saja and her two maids like that. He believed that a man should never lay his hands on a woman like that. They had completely crossed the line. What they had done was reckless. They fearlessly kidnapped Saja in public. It did not even sound like it was planned.
He left Amber and went to meet with the team. They were already waiting for Badir. “Princess Saja has been kidnapped,” he said without preamble.
The unit commander’s eyes flew open. This was a serious situation. “This happened today? Do we have a suspect?” he asked.
“Yes. El-Tamar.”
“Her biological father?” That was not what the commander expected to hear. How and why would her father be responsible for her kidnapping?
“From eyewitness accounts, it was several members of the family including his wife and two sons. No doubt he was in on it too,” Badir replied. He was not convinced that El-Tamar's hands were clean. “I want a bird in the sky and ears to the ground. If anyone in Quabeca moves a muscle; I want to know about it. We have to find her as soon as possible,” Badir commanded.
They then spent the next hour mapping out search quadrants along with orders to tap mobile phones, set up roadblocks and lock down the local airfields. Within a few hours, everyone in the palace was aware of Saja's disappearance. All the maids and the guards were talking about it. Basil's servants were extra careful around him. Everyone knew what he was like when he was angry and those who did not know were warned. They all knew of his love for Saja. Therefore, everyone was doing his or her best not to anger him or remind him of Saja.
Chapter 6
Mona and Saja were sitting in an empty room with plain walls and a high ceiling. The car ride was rough. Aman kept punching both of them when they tried anything. Akeem had thrown their phones out the window. When they arrived at the destination, they were thrown into this room and Aman locked the door behind them.
They had been there for about half a day with no food or water. Both of the women were sore from their injuries. It was uncomfortable. Saja sat there thinking of Basil. They had such a wonderful time on their honeymoon. Basil taught her how to sword fight, well he attempted to. Saja did not pick up the skills required for swordsmanship.
The sun was setting when Saja found Basil practising outside. He handed her a sword and tried to teach her, but she kept dropping the sword. It was too heavy and her strikes were weak. Basil kept laughing at her. It became a game to him as he carefully slashed at her dress with the sword until the fabric fell to the ground in shreds, exposing her legs. He threw his sword down, picked her up and brought them both down to the grass in the courtyard of the villa where he made love to her. Saja smiled to herself after remembering that memory.
When morning came, she had not rested much. She looked over at her Mona. She felt bad for her. “I'm sorry that you are in this mess because of me,” she said to her.
“No, it was I who failed to protect you,” Mona replied.
“This is messed up,” Saja rolled her eyes and sighed. “Seems that every time I am in this country, I am held hostage,” she added and grunted. Mona smiled and shook her head.
Suddenly the door opened and Akeem stood there holding a tray of food. He walked in halfway and left the tray on the floor before backing out.
“What exactly is your reason for kidnapping me? What is it that you want? To kill me? Money?” Saja demanded. He did not even bother to respond to her. He simply shut the door and locked it.
Akeem rejoined his mother and his brother in the kitchen. They were sitting at the table still trying to figure the whole thing out. They had not planned it properly. El-Tamar and Anwar walked into the kitchen.
“What have you done?” El-Tamar shouted as soon as he walked into the kitchen. Akeem had called him and told him where they were. He drove there as soon as he put the phone down.
“This is the only way we can make her pay for everything she has put us through and ransom back some of our wealth,” Abia said to her husband. He looked at her as though she had lost her mind.
“You are crazy and you have put us all in danger. Do you know how angry the Prince will be? May God help us all!”
“I do not know why you fear that man. He is only a prince and he will pay the ransom. It’s nothing to him.”
El-Tamar laughed. Abia had definitely lost her mind. “You clearly do not know the Prince very well,” he said.
“Father, we cannot simply stand by while we lose our home. We had to do something since you were not man enough to do anything about it,” Aman s
aid. El-Tamar slapped him.
“Boy, I am still your father. You will not speak to me like that ever! You were the one embezzling money from the Prince, you foolish boy. You got us here not her. This is your fault!” El-Tamar screamed at him.
“Well, there is no use in turning against each other. We are in this together now, there is no escaping it,” Akeem said.
* * * * * *
Amber got to her feet instantly when the Prince walked into the servants’ quarters. All the maids were surprised to see him. They bowed their heads to him as he passed. Basil had never been there but he wanted to check on her. Saja would want that. There were two single beds in the room. He sat on one of them. He asked Amber to sit down. She was standing there, not sure what to do.
“Are you feeling any better?” Basil asked Amber. He was very uncomfortable. He was not used to looking after people or worrying about their welfare. It was even more awkward because Amber was a maid. He never really spoke to the maids or worried over them.
“I am fine, thank you, your highness,” she replied. Her voice was shaky. The Prince being here in her bedroom had taken her by surprise. Mona was right. She had said that Saja had softened him up. He was a different man.
“This must be hard on you. I realise the three of you had become friends.”
Amber stared at the Prince. She did not expect him to be comforting her when he was probably suffering more than she was. She did not deserve his kindness. It should have been she who was taken and not Saja.
“I am sure what I feel is nothing compared to what you must be feeling,” Amber replied. Basil sighed and looked away. He did not like confronting his feelings. It was one exercise he could do without. The two of them sat there in silence for a moment.
“Does Mona sleep here?” Basil asked referring to the bed he was sitting on. Amber nodded. He felt a little ashamed that he did not know much about them. When he first met Saja and was giving her a hard time, it was they who were there for her.
“Take care of yourself and if you need anything, do not hesitate to ask,” Basil said to her and stood up. He headed to his office where he was to meet Badir. He wanted to talk with him to find out if there was any new information regarding Saja.
Basil's secretary bowed to him when he arrived at his office. She informed him that Badir was already inside waiting for him. He nodded and made his way into his office.
“Anything?” he asked Badir as soon as he was inside.
“I am afraid not. We have checked El-Tamar's house but it was obvious that they would not go there since it would be the first place we would look. However we had to check anyway,” Badir replied. The Prince nodded and remained silent for a moment.
“I cannot lose her,” Basil said to Badir.
“I know and you won't.” Badir had vowed to himself that he would find Saja at all costs. There was no way he would let anything perilous happen to her on his watch. This was the only woman his best friend had ever cared for and he was not going to disappoint him. He had to get her back.
“We have only been married less than a month.”
Basil's secretary ran into the office. The two men looked at her. She stood there wide-eyed and in panic mode. “Sheik El-Tamar's wife is on line 1,” she said to him. Basil quickly walked to his desk and put the phone on speaker so that Badir could listen in too. Badir dismissed the secretary.
“Hello, Prince Al-Qadir,” Abia said calmly.
“What have you done with my wife?” Basil asked her.
“Well, I am fine, thank you for asking.”
“Do not play with me woman. Do -” Badir touched the Prince’s arm. He decided it was better for him to speak to Abia. Basil was too angry and emotional to speak to her calmly.
“Abia, you are speaking with Badir now. Please tell us what it is exactly that you want,” Badir stated calmly.
“For starters, my husband needs to regain his title,” Abia said.
“Not going to happen!” Basil shouted.
“What else, Abia?”
“The Prince has taken all of our assets. Return our family home to us and some money,” Abia said.
“You do realise that since you have kidnapped the princess, even if you get everything that you are asking for, you will not be able to live in peace. You have placed your entire family in jeopardy over a foolish act. Release her now and perhaps the Prince will show some leniency.”
“That will be all for now.” Abia cut off the line. It was too late to turn back now.
“We are tracing the call, but she probably covered her tracks. She wouldn't be that stupid.”
Basil flung a vase off the table. It hit the wall and shattered into pieces. Abia had made the situation ten times worse. He thought that he would feel a bit more at ease if he spoke to one of them but he was feeling much worse. Abia had been so calm as if it was okay what she was doing. That enraged him even more.
“Try to calm down, your highness,” Badir said.
“Calm down? How am I supposed to be calm right now?” Basil barked.
“Because at least we know that she is alive. Abia would not be calling if she weren’t. They would have fled the country.” Badir knew his words were not of much comfort to the Prince but his aim was to calm him.
Chapter 7
Badir was not surprised when they could not trace the origin of Abia's call. She was smart enough to keep the call short and unless they could keep her on the line long enough, they would have difficulty triangulating her location. It would be even worse if they were on the move. Running his hands through his hair, Badir fought off his negative thoughts. While Quabeca was slowly growing and becoming more modern, there were still large areas that were sparsely populated and didn’t even have electricity. Time was not on their side and Badir would be damned if he allowed anything bad to happen to Saja. He knew that El-Tamar’s family was desperate and his only hope was that they would make a mistake in his favour.
Basil had returned to his quarters. He could not stay in his office; it was not doing him any good. He was sitting in his living room when his brother walked in.
“Brother, how are you?” the King asked as he sat down in front of him. The King knew that he was not going to get a straight answer but he was asking anyway. He knew his brother never talked about his feelings.
“What brings you here?” Basil asked. He could not even give his brother a warm welcome.
“My sister-in-law went missing; where else would I be?”
Basil did not even react. Of course, the news had reached the King. Saja was the princess after all; it was the King's business. Marina scrambled into the room with a tray of refreshments. She placed it on the table and left the room straight away.
“What is the latest information?”
Basil remained silent for a moment. Then he told the King about Abia's call. The King was surprised to hear it. He too had never expected El-Tamar to make such a cowardly move. Whether it was his command did not matter anymore. He should have brought Saja back if he had nothing to do with it. The King once thought of him as a man of honour but that opinion had been severely tainted.
El-Tamar had become an enemy to the state now. Biological father or not, he had put hands on his sister-in-law and that was a problem. The fact that El-Tamar did not feel any paternal instincts was another problem. That was his daughter. He should have treated her better. In the King's eyes, he was not a man and he was going to pay gravely for this.
“You left your wife and your concubine together?” Basil asked, changing the depressing topic.
“They can handle each other,” the King said.
“You might find the palace upside down by the time you return.”
The King grunted. He knew the queen and his mistress did not get along. Everyone knew! It was a bad idea leaving them alone in the palace. When he was there, at least they held back and pretended to be civil.
“I left mother in charge,” the King replied blandly. The two brothers started laughi
ng. Their strict mother was not fond of either woman but she could control them. They respected and feared her. “They will not cause any trouble when she is around,” the King added.
“Smart move, brother,” Basil said. Since the King did not have a crown prince, there was no one to run things in his absence. So his mother; the former queen, was the best option. She was both stern and wise.
